The Internet Saves The Day
by awesomegirl13
Summary: When James Potter discovered a piece of muggle technology called, "The Internet," he never expected to see such a wealth of relationship advice at his fingertips. Maybe there's something in that big world of knowledge that could help him win over the girl of his dreams, Lily Evans? Modern day Marauders. JPxLE obviously.:: -Awesomegirl13
1. So There's This Thing Called Internet

_The Internet Saves The Day_

_When James Potter discovered a piece of muggle technology called, "The Internet," he never expected to see such a wealth of relationship advice at his fingertips. Maybe there's something in that big world of knowledge that could help him win over the girl of his dreams, Lily Evans? Modern day Marauders. JPxLE obviously. _

**A/N: Hello interwebs! Just another story I started, because I obviously don't have enough on my plate with all of the other 30 stories I've started… I get to them all… eventually. Hope you enjoy this one? The idea just sort of popped into my brain while taking online quizzes with a friend. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

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"Come on James!" Sirius called, bursting into the room that he shared with the rest of the boys in his year. "It's a beautiful day! Stop wasting time and come play Quiditch or something." He flung open the curtains, and James wailed, covering his head with the blanket next to him.

"Turn the light off!" He yelled, as if even the idea of sunlight could burn a hole straight through him.

Sirius walked over, ripping the blanket from James' head. "No! The match against Ravenclaw is in a week, and I want to win, so I suggest getting off your rear to practice! It's a beautiful day, now let's go fly."

"No!" James said, taking the blanket back once again, and crouching over the object on his lap. "Look, now because of the sun there's a glare on this thing. How do you expect me to see anything?"

"There's a lot to see outside, now come on!" Sirius said, before realizing that he'd never seen the strange object on James' lap before. "Wait, what do you mean, glare? What's a glare? Is it contagious? And what's so important you could spend all day on that instead of going outside? What does it do?"

"It's called a laptop!" James said enthusiastically. "Now shut the curtains and I'll tell you about it." This time, Sirius did as James asked.

"Now," Sirius began, "Tell me all about this 'laptop' thingy."

"Well, as you know I may or may not have a small crush on one, Lily Evans,"

"James the whole bloody school knows about that, and it's less than small."

"Shh! I'm telling a story! Now, I figured since she's a muggleborn, it might do me good to ask around to some other people to find out more about muggles. Apparently, they create things to make up for the fact that they don't have magic. One such invention is the laptop, wifi, and the internet."

"Internet?"

"Internet. See, it kind of seems like magic to me, but everything you could ever want to know about anything is on this laptop through the internet. See? So anyways, someone told me about this and I just fell in love with the idea, and knew I had to get one myself, because Muggle or not it's a fantastic invention. So I pulled some strings, and got this, and something to create this thing called wifi, so that I could get internet here! And voila. I've been messing with it all day. It came this morning."

"So that's what that package was!"

"Exactly. The person who told me about it in the first place, Marge, you know her, right? Yeah, she helped me with it at first. I started out using this thing called 'Internet Explorer,' but apparently that sucks a lot, so I switched to something called 'chrome,' but I was using a search engine called 'bing' but then I found out that it was absolutely nothing compared to google and—"

"Listen mate, no offense, but I really have no idea what you're on about… sorry. You lost me at Internet Explorer."

"Oh."

"That sounds really cool, I have to admit, but… well… Quidditch!"

"I might come down and play later, but for now I'm going to do a bit of research on some things."

James sunk back into his bed, placing his beloved laptop back on his lap where it belongs. James knew, right then, he'd made a new lifetime soul mate.

Hmm. What could the internet be useful for? He went to onto google, and typed in the phrase "does the girl of my dreams like me?" Wow! So many results! He clicked on the second one. It was a survey from something called, "quibblo." James took a moment to wonder exactly what a quibblo was, and whether or not it was contagious.

Lets see, _Question 1, does she find excuses to talk to you? Yes or no._ Hmm… She finds every excuse possible to insult him. Does that count as yes? James decided that yes, insulting him constantly _was_ a sign that she liked him, and clicked yes.

_Question 2_, _when she talks to you, does she twirl her hair and say your name a lot?_ _Yes or no_. This was more difficult. Potter _is_ his name, and she says that all the time, but it isn't his first name, which James gathered was what the question meant… as for the hair, well, lets just say that when he's talking to Lily Evans, the hair isn't normally the first thing he looks at.

Normally just… you know… her... eyes… yeah… James sighed, and clicked the no button.

_Question 3, sometimes in class, does she take off her sandle and rub your leg with her feet? Yes or no. _Wow. James didn't quite no what he'd even do if that situation _did_ arise. He checked no with a sigh. These questions were awfully specific.

_Question 4_, does _she take your phone while texting and read your texts to other girls_. _Yes or no_. Phones? Texts? James assumed they had something to do with the crazy muggle world, and checked no. Also a very specific question.

_Question 5_, does _she talk to her friends and smile and they all point at you and giggle and stuff. Yes or no. _She laughs at James with her friends all the time! Typically while he's doing something stupid. James smiled, and checked yes.

_Question 6_, how long is this quiz anyways? does _her best friend give you advice on how to talk to her and stuff? _James checked yes again with a grin. Her friends seem to like him okay… ish… most of the advice ends up being, "stop looking at her like she's a piece of meat and have a real conversation that's not about Quidditch," but it counts, right?

_Question 7, do you have long phone conversations with her? Yes or no. _There they go with the phones again. Actually, come to think of it, James did remember using a phone once to try and contact Lily over the summer. It was really odd, and Lily got mad at him for screaming into his ear. How else was she supposed to hear him from that far away? That conversation didn't last long at all. James sighed, and clicked no.

_Question 8_, _does she always want you to tell her you think she's beautiful? Yes or no._ Not really, although he says it to her all the time anyways. She always hates it though. I guess for some reason she never thinks he's serious. James let out one last huge sigh, clicked no, and waited for his results.

_There's a 20% chance she likes you back. __Sorry, but she's really not that into you. _

20 percent chance? Yes! That means he and Lily are as good as married… well, maybe not quite, but it means that at least he has _some_ chance, right?!

James jumped slammed his laptop shut and raced out to find Sirius, all the way thinking about how much he loved the Internet.

Suddenly, James got a thought… maybe, if the internet could tell him whether or not Lily liked him, it could also give him tips on how to win her heart!

James' day suddenly got a whole lot brighter.

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**A/N: And there we have it! It's a pretty short chapter, but it's just a test run. Send me a review and let me know if I should continue it or not!**

**Much thanks,**

**-Awesomegirl13 **


	2. Flawless Flirting From Seventeen

**A/N: Hello again! I'm back to give you another chapter. Hope you enjoy it! It's short, but so am I, so... **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise.**

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Sure enough, James ended up spending the entire rest of the night on the internet trying to find tips on how to woo Lily. He was coming away empty handed, all the quizzes telling him he had no hope, just like the first quiz had done. That's when he stumbled upon gold. Some website for a muggle magazine called _Seventeen_ caught his eye. He wasn't 17 yet, but he would be soon enough! He opened up the website, and saw a page entitled, "Celebrity Flirting Tips That Really Work!" James grinned his famous grin. This could be his chance! He had to try them out on Lily as soon as he could.

_Tip 1: Keep it Subtle. Flirting works best when you're yourself. Make a joke, or smile. Give them the "look," that's literally batting your eyelashes, giving a subtle look, and a small smile. _This was something James could handle. He thinks he can handle the look pretty okay.

_Tip 2: Just Text Him Already! _At this point, James had discovered that texting was the muggle equivelant to sending owls. It didn't make much sense to send an owl to Lily when she was always near him though… But who was he to question _Seventeen? _He kept reading. _A lot of people could easily text them that they like them, but they're too shy. You need to feel comfortable around them!_

_Tip 3: Go Ahead, Be Cheesy! _James grinned yet again. He could _definitely_ do cheesy. _I always used to pull the whole 'I'm tired' thing, and put my head on their shoulder. It was so cheesy, but it worked! You just have to have fun with it. _

_Tip 4: Dress as Chill as You Act_. James already had this one down to the letter. He skipped to the next tip.

_Tip 5: Start with hi! I think the hardest part about flirting is actually mustering up the courage to talk to them. You have to take the leap of faith and just do it! _

These tips in mind, James was ready to turn his knowledge into actions. Evans won't even know what hit her.

OoOoO

There she stood! Lily Evans! The most beautiful woman James Potter had ever seen. The girl who he's loved since the moment he met her. And he was about to win her heart thanks to the Internet and _Seventeen_ magazine!

James put on his best grin, and started with Tip 5: Starting with hi. "Hi Lily-Flower!" He shouted, running to catch up wit her.

"Potter." Was all she said back, with a curt nod.

James gestured towards the clothes he was wearing. "So, Evans! I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm dressing as chill as I'm acting. Pretty swaggy, right?"

"Swaggy?"

"That's what chill people say."

She stared at him with the I-Can't-Believe-You're-Still-Talking-To-Me-Leave face that he knew so well. Why wasn't it working so far?! How about tip one. Keeping it subtle. Starting with a joke… Jokes… Jokes… Hmm…

"Hey Lily… Why'd the ghost cross the road, Lily? Huh? You know why?"

Lily sighed, and stopped walking. "Why, James?" She asked, obviously annoyed but deciding her best course of action would be to play along for a bit.

James grinned, he had her for sure on this step! "To… wait for it… get to the other side!"

"I'm waiting."

"I already said it."

"What was it?"

"To get to the other side… you know… other side, as in _death_ because _ghosts_?"

"But aren't jokes supposed to be funny?"

James panicked internally. This wasn't working! What was he doing wrong? The look! He forgot about the look! He turned towards Lily, waited until her eyes were locked on his, and then he batted his eyelashes, tilted his head forward, and gave a small smile, without showing teeth. She burst out laughing… James was very confused. That was the look, not the joke! She was supposed to laugh at the joke, and by this step she was supposed to want to kiss him!

Was he not being cheesy enough? He needed to be cheesier.

"Wow!" James yawned, stretching his arms out. "I'm pretty tired." He got his arm all the way around her shoulder, and laid his head on hers in an awkward position, that might have looked less awkward if he hadn't been so much taller than her. She grabbed his arms, and untangled herself from them, muttering something about him being some sort of unkind word as she walked away.

Well… That went swimmingly.

As James trudged back towards the Gryffindor tower, he realized his terrible mistake. He'd forgotten to text her! Maybe if he would've texted her, she would have been more receptive to his charms… Of course, he didn't have texting, so an owl would have to do. He grabbed a piece of parchment from a backpack sitting on a bench nearbye, and wrote out a quick note, saying _Evans, I just wanted to text you to let you know that I'm madly in love with you, and ask if you prefer to name our son James, after me, or Harry, after my grandfather. _There! He rushed upstairs to the owlry, and sent the text off.

No way she could resist him now.

He practically skipped the rest of the way to his bed, and pulled out his laptop once again. "Thank you _Seventeen!_" He whispered. "You have done me well."

He decided to do a bit more browsing on the website that had helped him so much. His curiosity as peaked when he saw and article titled, "_Guys Really Love It When…"_ James couldn't help but wonder what sort of things girls learned about guys from websites like these…

_One: When you indulge our guys side._ That _is_ true. James would have loved it if Lily would have showed some interest in the things he likes, like Quidditch and girls.

_Two:_ _When you support us_. This seemed to make sense to James. He would like it if Lily would start supporting him instead of insulting him every time he got,

_Three: When you let us chase you_. This, however, James had to disagree with… strongly. James was absolutely sick of trying to chase down Lily Evans. He would much rather have a Lily Evans who liked him, than a Lily Evans who hated his guts and ran away at the sight of him.

_Four: When you make boring stuff fun_. Things were never boring with James, mostly just because he knew how to make things fun… although it seems like Lily sucks the fun out of things… She doesn't like it when he passes notes or pranks people during History of Magic class, and Godric knows how boring _that_ is.

_Is_ Lily Evans really the girl for James? _Seventeen_ sure seems to disagree…

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**A/N: Yeah, I kind of just decided to go ahead and write another chapter tonight anyways. It's not like I had anything else to do but sit around. **

**Much love,**

**-Awesomegirl13 **


	3. The Music Industry Needs Me

**A/N: Well, looks like I'm back again. Not sure when I'll get this updated, but if it makes you feel any better, I _did_ write it right after the last chapter. Oh, and also, this chapter is dedicated to my friend and twin, _bonniebonbon_** **for boosting my ego a ton and basically reading and reviewing every story of mine. :) **

**Enjoy?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the other brands mentioned here.**

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Only a few short days later, James received yet another package from the Muggle world. "Yes!" He shouted, drawing the attention of his fellow Marauders to him.

"What's that?" Remus asked, glancing up from his waffle.

"This, my dear Moony, is an Apple iTouch."

"That doesn't look like any sort of apple I've ever seen." Sirius muttered to his bacon. He, in stark contrast to James, did not have any sort of fascination with Muggle technology. The way he saw it, there was absolutely nothing the Muggles had that Wizards didn't. In fact, he found the whole internet thing to be more and more stupid the more James went on about it.

James continued his explanation of the technology in his hand. "See, it's like an iPhone, but without the phone part, because I have no one to text or call anyways."

Three blank eyes stared back at him. Text? Phone?

He decided that there had to be a better way to explain it all to them. "See, you can put music on it and listen to it any time you want. And you can buy these things called apps, which can be games, but also things like Pinterest or Tumblr. I guess you don't know what those are, and I don't feel like explaining it, so... There's a camera, too! Except the pictures don't move unless it's a video or GIF. GIFs are just like Wizarding photos. There's internet too!"

Three blank faces stared at him. Tumblr? Apps? Pinterest?

James shook his head in despair. They just couldn't understand!

"Prongs, my friend," Sirius said with a shake of his head, "I have never seen a wizard more obsessed with Muggle technology."

James blocked out the sound of his friends and began to unwrap the packaging. This was it! He was about to have internet that could follow him around places! It was the beginning of a new era. Maybe _Seventeen_ magazine had an app! He set it up right there at the table. Hmm… He needed to think up a password. Oh! He typed in _Lily Evans_ as the password. No one would _ever_ guess that. James was sure of it.

Now for music. He should totally download some music. He got onto his wifi network, "Jily4Eva." The password? "Lily Evans." He logged onto the iTunes store. He had made an Apple ID earlier on his computer. James was getting technologically savy! Plus he was having some increasing respect for Muggles. Steve Jobs was his new hero. James even made an email account! Even though he had no one to email… but it was good for signing up to things like Tumblr and Apple. His address was _HotQuidditchPlayer, _and it was a gmail account! "Padfoot, you know me better than I know me, what kind of music should I download?"

"Download 'The Weird Sisters.' Everyone loves them." Peter chimed in.

"Naw," Sirius said, immediately rejecting his suggestions. "_Everyone_ listens to The Weird Sisters. They're too overplayed. Get some music from The Hobgoblins. Great, but not quite as well known."

James grinned. Hobgoblins. Got it.

Remus thought for awhile, before suggesting to James that he listen to some of Celestia Warbank's songs. James jotted it all down, then began looking the songs up on iTunes.

"Guys!" James said, "I feel completely stupid. Statute of secrecy! Of course none of the music _we_ listen to is going to be in a Muggle database. Man. I can't believe I didn't think of that. I'm going to have to listen to Muggle music until I find something I like."

The four exchanged looks. Remus and Peter had both listened to Muggle music once or twice, but James and Sirius have never heard a non-wizarding band in their lives. Must come from how extremely pureblood their families were.

And so, James decided to browse iTunes until he found something he liked.

And James liked everything.

That afternoon, he spent most of his classes messing with his new iPod underneath his desk, only waving his wand when necessary to show teachers he was still paying attention, and boy did he find some songs to impress his true love. About thirty Muggle-pounds later, he found out that he may be able to use Muggle music to impress his true love. Chances are she'd know the songs, too! That'd make it even better. It would show her that he's dedicated enough to share her interests!

Which is exactly why he decided it would be a great idea to serenade his love in the hallways.

"AND IIIIII EYAHIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUUUUUU! OOOOHH! I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUU!"

"James?" Lily asked. He kept singing.

"James!" Lily yelled, cutting him off in the middle of his song. "Why are you singing a Whitney Houston song?"

"Because… I like it."

"James, I'm leaving now. Don't follow me again."

James, unfazed by her request, realized that just maybe Whitney Houston _wasn't_ her favorite. Of course! She had to have been more of a Celine Dion girl. "Near, far, wherever you are I believe that the heart does go on." He sang, in the voice of an angel. If the angel were dying. And had a mouth full of water.

"James, I wasn't joking. Stop singing."

"You're here," He continued singing, "there's nothing I fear, and I know that my heart will go on."

Lily sighed, realizing that James wouldn't give up, and decided it was best to just ignore him.

"We'll stay forever this way! You are safe in my heart, and my heart will go on."

How did he even know all these songs anyways?

James was confused at Lily's lack of respect for his music... Hmm. Maybe she really _wasn__'t_ the girl for him... He quickly dismissed the thought.

Lily wasn't the only one he annoyed with these songs, however. James still had to share a room with people. And James had discovered Classic Rock.

"Risin up, back on the streets! Did my time, took my chances!" He sang at the top of his lungs bright and early in the morning.

"James, what in Merlin's name are you doing? Stop singing! It's early." Sirius asked, rubbing his eyes shut.

"It's Eye of the Tiger, by a band called Survivor! It gets me pumped up in the morning. Totally makes me want to start off my day." James said, before continuing his song. "Went the distance now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive!"

Sirius rolled over and shoved the pillow over his ears. How could Moony and Wormtail be sleeping through this?

"It's the Eye of the Tiger it's the thrill of the fight! Rising up to the challenge of our rivals. And the last known surviver stalks his prey in the night and he's watching us all with the eyyyyyyyyyye, of the tigerrrrr!"

James was doing some crazy air guitar solos, all while dancing around the room in his underwear. It would have been comical, had Sirius been less tired. He shook his head, attempting to go back to sleep with the thought that James was developing a serious problem with Muggle technology.

It took two rounds of Living on a Prayer, the chorus of Smoke on the Water five times, and the chorus of Highway to Hell three times for Sirius to finally decide it would be easier to just wake up.

James and his bloody music.

It wasn't too long before Remus was annoyed by it too.

They were in the library studying, or at least, Remus was attempting to study, when James suddenly got the idiotic idea that he would be able to focus better while listening to music. In response to Remus' concern, James guaranteed him that he wouldn't sing out loud to it… apparently whispering it quite loudly and off key didn't count as "out loud."

"Hey I just met you, and this is craaaaazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe." Remus rolled his eyes in frustration.

"I'm beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes, I'm on the right track baby I was born this way." Remus sighed loudly, hoping James would get the message. James didn't.

"Tonighhhhhhht. We are youngggg. So I'll set the world on fireee, it'll burn brighterrrrr than the sunnnnnnn!" Remus kicked James under the table, while making the universal 'Shut up before I shut you up' signal. James got the message this time, and switched his loud whispering to quieter-but-still-loud whispering, which for some reason annoyed Remus more.

He couldn't concentrate on his book, if James was mouthing words to his left!

"I know you love me, I know you care. Just shout whenever, and I'll be there." Remus found that it would be better to pick up his book and leave.

"Where are you going?" James whispered.

"To the bathroom. I'll be right back." Remus replied. He never came back.

On his way back to Gryffindor Tower from the library, he ran across Peter's path. What did he do? He circled Peter singing at the top of his lungs the lyrics to the first song that popped into his head.

"If I was your boyfriend I'd never let you go. I could take you places you ain't never been before."

"Prongs, you're scaring me." Peter said timidly, trying to dart past James to return the book he'd checked out earlier.

James switched songs again, this time to something purposefully creepier.

"Every step you make, every breath you take, I'll be watching you."

Peter got out from behind James, and sprited as fast as he could in the other direction. James laughed his typical booming James-laugh, and headed back.

That night, when James returned to his room, his friends were all there waiting for him.

"Hey guys!" He said, plopping down on his bed and pulling out his headphones from his bookbag.

"Oh no you don't." Said Sirius, taking them from his hands. Poor James looked like a poor little lost puppy.

"Sirius?" He asked, his eyes getting all big and watery. "What are you doing?"

Remus took a deep breath, and answered for his friend. "Prongs, we're holding an intervention on your behalf."

"An intervention?" James asked, fearing for the worst.

"Yes." Peter piped up from the back.

Remus continued. "We're sorry, mate, but the singing _has_ to end. Even Lily's been complaining about it. It's getting ridiculous!"

"Plus, you're a horrible singer." Sirius added. "And the songs you sing are atrocious."

"Stick to the Weird Sisters." Peter finished.

James looked like someone had murdered his best friend. "So you… don't like my singing?"

"No." They all said in unison.

James was visibly deflated. Sirius began to feel bad. "But, you know mate, maybe it's time you checked out the app store?"

He cheered up almost immediately. "You think so?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, "I think so."

"Then my singing days are officially… over!"

And thus the Gryffidors, and the rest of the school for that matter, were saved the miseries of hearing James hum Miley Cyrus songs around the school for a good few weeks.

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**A/N: So this chapter is a bit longer than I thought it would end up, but I sort of had a lot of fun with it…**

**Hope you guys don't mind? James' email mentioned in this chapter is a real email I just created, so it actually works if you want to try it out. **

**Much love, and I appreciate any and all reviews! Especially since this is a newer story and I don't know what works yet. Longer chapters? Shorter chapters? Any specific parts of the internet that absolutely have to be explored? **

**Thanks!**

**-Awesomgirl13 **


	4. 10 Steps to Bring You Hope

**A/N: Hello again, loves! 'Tis I, the authoress of this story. I have excuses, including summer camp advetures and original stories, but you don't want to hear them. The thing that matters is that I'm here writing for you again, correct?**

**IMPORTANT REMINDER: I've set this story in Modern Day. Modern. As in now. Where technology IS in existence. Meaning we're no longer in the 1970s…. **

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah. We get the point.**

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_Can you stay true to yourself and still find good friends? _Yes! _Can you develop the skills you need to have a rich social life? _Rich? He could do rich… _Can you become someone whose friendship and affection are sought-after? _Yes, yes, and yes! He could! He knew he could. _Read on for some tips for making genuine connections with others. _This is it, James thought, staring at the screen. He could feel it, this was going to be the advice he needed to win him Lily. He found it by typing the beautiful words into the search bar, _how to get someone to like you._ Because of course you can't go wrong with that.

_This article is about platonic friendships. Click the following links if instead you want to get a guy to like you romantically or get a girl to like you romantically._

Oh. Again? Really? The internet is perfect… there had to be some good advice on there somewhere…

He clicked the bottom link.

_Step 1: Have your own life. _James scowled. What was the supposed to mean? Of course he had his own life… he certainly didn't have anyone elses life…_ If you tend to fall into the "friend zone", this will be especially important. _Friend zone? What's a friend zone? It sounded like something Sirius would say… he wrote it down to ask about later. Lily wasn't his friend though. That's why he was doing all this, wasn't it?_ Real girls (girls with a strong sense of purpose and self-worth) _(i.e. Lily Evans-Potter, the most beautiful self-worth-ish person he knew.) _don't like guys who have no lives or who cling to them like plastic wrap. _Plastic wrap? What's a—? _Some girls do like that, but for all the wrong reasons—either they're insecure and needy for attention, _Needy for attention? Evans? _or they're control freaks who have a need for dominating guys. _Actually, that _is_ what Sirius says all the time…_ Focus filling your time with your own friendships, interests, hobbies, and goals. This also gives her a chance to do something with you without it becoming a date. _

Hmm… James played Quidditch. He had friends: the rest of the Marauders. Goals? Hm. Well his current goal was to make the apple-of-his-eye actually look at him with something other then disdain… But did that count as having his own life? James hadn't considered a future too much; after all, he did have his parent's money. He's considered being an auror, but… Hm. So something with you? What are the chances Evans would want to play Quidditch with him?

_Step 2: Look neat. Keep yourself well groomed and in shape. If you want to get a woman to like you, basic cleanliness and appearance are extremely important. Girls notice things like bad breath, flab, body odour and greasy hair before they notice that winning personality. Give them a chance to see your good qualities by making a good first impression with your appearance. _

It was too late to make another first impression, but being ugly was never one of James' problems. His email address was "hot quidditch player" for Merlin's sake! He would never lie to the interenet… He definitely didn't have bad breath or greasy hair—he wasn't Snape. He always made sure he showered after every practice… Of course there was always the problem of his hair, which was completely untameable, but The Girls loved the whole "just got off the broom stick" look. Right? Yeah. Plus, Quidditch _does_ make him pretty fit, so no issue on that count. Yeah, he could totally skip this step too.

_Step 3: Speak to her. _Yeah, James scoffed, because he hadn't done that before. _It's unlikely a girl will be at all interested in you if she doesn't know you exist. Make an effort to talk to her, even if approaching her seems scary at first. _Completely and utterly terrifying. She should be amazed at his courage and bravery!_ Highlight your compatibility as friends and more by talking about hobbies and interests that you have in common. _In common? What did they have in common? _Become her friend; she can't get close to you unless you're friends. _But what about not being friend-whatevered? He sighed. Speaking to her wasn't the problem either… He could skip this step too.

_Step 4: Make her laugh. _Hmm… _Telling jokes or funny stories is a classic way to make a person laugh, but not the only way. Be bold and think of some antics that will make her laugh, like clowning around. _With Evans? As if he hadn't already tried that… although completely perfect in every way, he was pretty sure she had zero sense of humor._ Tell her to dare you to do something, then do it. _He wrote that bit down. He hadn't heard that before. _Laughter will come by itself if both of you are relaxed and enjoying each other's company. The more she laughs, the more she wants - and she will want more. _Relaxed? Enjoying each other's company?

_Step 5: Flirt. _Oh, he was good at this one… _Being flirty will help keep you out of the friend zone because it will remind the girl that you're attractive as well as a good friend. _He grinned. No one really needed reminding that he was attractive. He just radiated cool…yeah… cool… Of course she might need to be reminded of the fact that he was a good friend too…_ When you see or meet a girl you like, make brief eye contact and smile. Strike up a casual, flirty conversation and see how she reacts._ Ha. Reacts by turning his skin green or charming his robes to itch._ If you make them feel happy, they'll see you as fun and caring. If you creep them out, they will get nervous. _Did Lily ever get happy? Is that an option for her? She had to be happy part of the time at least.

_Step 6: Compliment her. If you really like someone, you probably appreciate a lot of things about her. Why not let her know? If anything is different or new (her hairstyle, nail polish color, shirt, etc.), make note of it. The more unique the compliment, the better received it will be. _Unique. Unique. He needed a unique compliment, instead of his old standbys. He wrote that down too.

_Step 7: Break the touch barrier. _Oh. _There are several ways to touch a girl without being sleazy. _Oh? _Hold her coat while she puts it on. Offer her your hand when she's stepping on an uneven surface. _Ohh. _Hold out your hand so you can lead her through a crowd, catch her if she stumbles, and hug and high-five her when she's euphoric. If she's worried, put your hand lightly on her shoulder to comfort her. _Oohh. _These are all polite ways to get a little closer to someone without being creepy. _Oh. Ohh. Hm. Hmm.

He wrote that down too.

_Step 8: Ask her out. _Again? _Make sure it's something that you're both interested in. _Both interested in? She doesn't like Quidditch… _If you want, show her your world. Bring her somewhere that you feel comfortable and preferably, where you have or do something you're proud of. _Maybe he could… it's possible if he… hmm.

_Step 9: Make her feel important. _She is important! She's the most important thing… _Chivalry is not dead. Keep it up by opening doors, holding an umbrella over her, carrying stuff when she has her hands full, lending her your jumper, and basically caring for her. _He could do that! _The mark of a true gentleman is to a lady feel like a lady. _Is she a feminist? Do they like that? _When communicating with her, make an effort to say more rather than less and to keep things personal rather than generic. _Personal… hm._ She needs to know that you're prepared to go the extra mile and not wuss out on her. _The extra mile, huh? He wrote this down too.

And the last step, finally,

_Step 10: Be yourself. You are unique. Be the authentic you. Bring out your best. Let her know you as who you truly are. Use your talents, gifts, and strengths and let yourself be known. If you have great sense of humor, share that with her. If you love science, music, poetry, politics, or sports, let her know what you love. The right woman will fall for you and love you just the way you are._

Hm. According to this website, Lily should _already_ be in love with him. But she's not. Why not? Why is this so difficult? There were a _few_ things he hadn't tried yet…

Tomorrow. He would use everything he could tomorrow. He would go step by step, and win her heart by the book! Maybe he just wasn't doing things in the right order?

The door to their dorm slammed shut, and James quickly slammed his laptop shut, shoving it under his pillow.

"What were you doing?" Sirius asked, suspicion creeping in his voice?

"Nothing." James replied, although he said it more as a question than anything else.

"You were on the internet again, weren't you?" It was more of an acusation then a question.

James shrugged, Sirius sighed, and that night, when everyone else was asleep and he had the curtains shut tight, James made it a point to google the phrase, "unique compliments."

* * *

**A/N: Alright. There's a chapter for you! Sorry it's a bit slow, this one is more laying foundation for the next chapter. (Which I should hopefully be writing as we speak, and should also be up tonight… no complete promises though.) **

**Please review, as it takes less then two minutes, and is basically the air that keeps me breathing. Think of the joy you get when you yourself receive a review! Besides, perhaps if you review, I'll post the next chapter a bit quicker… Your choice. **

**Much love! And if you've signed up for NaNoWriMo, shoot me a PM! I'm doing it this year too. **

**-Awesomegirl13 **


	5. Of Interests, Compliments, and Touching

**A/N: Told you it wouldn't be too long until I started writing again. (unless my computer crashes….again)**

**Disclaimer: I disclaim with disdain.**

* * *

The next morning was met with much joy from James, who was way too excited about starting his 'new life' with the 'love of his life,' and much un-joy from the rest of the Marauders, who unlike James was more than aware that it was a Tuesday, and nothing good came of Tuesdays in all honesty. He joyfully got dressed. He blissfully brushed his teeth. He ecstatically rushed down to breakfast. And, as every grumpy non-morning person knows, nothing is more annoying than cheery-ness on a Tuesday morning.

"What's got him so excited?" Peter huffed, as James practically skipped past him to get to the door.

"I don't even know anymore." Remus replied, shaking his head. "He just always seems excited."

Sirius scowled. "He probably spent all night on 'the youtube' or whatever it is those muggles call it."

Meanwhile, James slid down on the bench in the great hall right next to Lily, who, like most sane wizards, was understandably grumpy in the mornings. "Hello Evans! How are you on this beautiful Tuesday morning? How was your Monday? Mine was great. I was just busy, you know, living my life… my own life… that I own… because it's mine."

She scowled. "Go away, hexing you takes effort, and I'm not in the mood for effort."

James frowned. The article didn't prepare him for this. Of course, he should have known it would have happened, her getting mad at him always happened. If he stuck around after she told him to leave, would that count as plastic wrap, or the friend-zone? Friend-zone is the sticking one, right? Or is that the plastic wrap? Of course, if he left, he wouldn't ever get to tell her about his hobbies and interests that didn't involve her, and she wouldn't know he had his own life.

What to do…

"I think I should tell you about my goals, interests, and hobbies."

"I know your goals, interests, and hobbies. Your interests include being an all-around prat and obsessing over quidditch, your hobbies include bullying those weaker than yourself and obsessing over yourself and quidditch, and your goals are to have the all-around-messiest hair, become some all-star quidditch player for a team no one cheers for, and making me your girlfriend, which, as I've told you before, is never e_ver_ going to happen."

He frowned. For a cheery morning, he seemed to be doing an awful lot of frowning. "Actually, I've been thinking about being an auror, but a quidditch star doesn't seem _too_ bad."

She looked at him, a bit surprised. "Really? I'm… uh… I'm thinking of becoming an auror too. Honestly, I didn't really think you'd given any thought to the future."

He tried not to let the smile escape his lips. She was impressed! He could tell. "You still have no chance with me, though." She added. "Now leave, before I'm forced to pour pumpkin juice on your head again. That one's getting a bit old, but I'm too tired to think of anything more creative."

He untangled his legs from the bench, and went back to join his friends. Step 1? Accomplished. He plopped down next to Remus, shoveling a pile of eggs onto his plate. "She talked to me!" He said, grinning. "I told her all about my interests. We bonded."

The other three looked skeptical. Remus was the first to speak. "That's… neat, Prongs… So you found out all about her interests?"

James dropped his fork.

"Oops."

oOoOoOoOo

"Hey Lily! Wait up!" James said, running down the hall to catch up with her. She let out a huge audible sigh and rolled her eyes, but, surprisingly enough, slowed down anyways.

"What do you want, Potter? We don't even have Ancient Runes together."

"So what? Those books look heavy." He took them out of her hands, subtly breaking the touch barrier just like Step 7 suggested.

They walked in awkward silence for a bit, but of course, James couldn't let that last for long. "Lily, what are your interests?"

She stopped for a second. Then kept walking. "My interests?"

"Yeah!" James said, over-enthusiastically.

"Why do you want to know?" She was a bit wary, but James wasn't sure why. It's not like he was planning on proposing or anything! Of course, it wouldn't have been the first time…

"For science?"

"I… well… hm… I love charms… and potions I guess."

"What about non-school related things? You know, activities or hobbies."

"I… I… hm. I never think about it that much. I guess I like reading?"

"Anything in particular? I sort of enjoy reading too." (Truthfully, he'd probably read five books that weren't required for school in his entire Hogwarts career.)

"Mostly old muggle-literature you haven't heard of. Jane Austin, Shakespeare, the classics." Muggle literature. Luckily enough, he had a good excuse to not no much about that subject… He _had_ heard the name Shakespeare from various places in his life though. He took a mental note to look up more about these books later.

At that point in the conversation, Lily Evans seemed to become aware of the face that she was having an actual civil conversation with James Potter.

What else could she expect from a Tuesday? She stopped in the hall near her classroom, scowled, and grabbed her books back from him.

"I'm _not_ letting you carry my books all the way inside. I can do it myself, thank you very much." She quickly, more quickly than James at least, walked up to the door, and was soon out of sight.

He shouldn't have been so hasty with Step 7.

OoOoO

After an exciting morning of Step 2, looking good, Step 1, totally and completely having his own life, Step 3, starting a conversation, and the less successful but still slightly OK Step 7, breaking the touch barrier, James felt practically on top of the world.

Not only that, but he was stocked up with a ton of really good complimenting tips from the internet. He was ready to be smooth, cool, and unique. He was told a few things about complimenting. First, that he should focus on complimenting more about her personality, and less about her appearance. Next, that he should make them straight from the heart, with what he truly believed so as not to feel faked or trying to hard, and finally, that he should compliment her on little things that no one else would have thought of to point out. He was more than prepared for this.

Stroke of luck number 1: He happened to have a seat next to her in History of Magic. Stroke of luck number 2: He happened to have a lot of spare bits of parchment. Stroke of luck number 3: The lecture happened to be something that he could _tell_ she already knew by the way the boredom practically emanated off of her. Stroke of luck number 4: He happened to have a ton of great compliments ready. Stroke of pure talent: He had a really, really good throwing arm, and was even better at not getting caught.

The first note hit Lily from behind. She turned around, and gave him a glare of pure disdain, before throwing the parchment back at him. Did she not realize it was a note from him? He quickly wrote down another compliment and crumpled that one into a ball too, which this time landed right in front of her. She rolled her eyes, and mouthed "Real mature," before shoving it in her pocket. He took another piece of paper, crumpled that one up, and threw it at her to get her attention. She looked up in annoyance, just in time to see him mouthing the word _note. _

She opened up the second piece of paper, the one that had landed in front of her. It said: _If there was a time where one could legally marry food, I'd still propose to you. _She looked at him, completely confused, before using her best throwing arm to toss it into the trash. She had a good arm…

He threw another one at her. When she flattened this one out, it said: _Your face makes other people ugly, and I'd probably put that down in a textbook as a fact. _

Thanks?

The next one said: _You're more fun than a rope swing on the arm of a dinosaur. And I know what you're thinking, "that doesn't sound fun at all, in fact, it sounds quite dangerous." Yeah, well last time I checked you weren't a dinosaur safety technician, so why don't you back off and find us a rope swing, fine friend?_

This one left her nothing but confused, which James could understand a bit, considering he _was_ a bit distracted by Sirius as he was writing it.

The next one read: _If some one ever, ever calls you ugly, you just say "go fish." Because if they're going to say something stupid, you might as well say something stupid too._

He watched, and this one actually made her crack a smile. Not much of one, but he saw it. Of course, he also saw her shake her head in pure disbelief of his compliment creating skills, but he tried not to get too flattered about this.

She kept that note, for one reason or another. James knew this because he still saw it tucked away in her History of Magic textbook one week later.

Of course, that's in the future.

We'll get to that eventually.

* * *

**A/N: That could either be a lot longer of a chapter than you usually get, or a lot shorter of a chapter. I'm not sure, because I'm too lazy to actually check the word count this time.**

**Hope you enjoyed it, just like I enjoy seeing you and all your beautiful feedback.**

**Speaking of feedback, I always appreciate more of it! Just remember, the amount of reviews I get equals the amount of happiness I have on any given day, and the happier I am the more I write.**

**So really the time until the next update is totally on your shoulders. (And no promises, but it shouldn't be too long until James discovers Spark Notes to impress Lily… maybe even fanfiction.)**

**-Awesomegirl13 **


	6. The Rule, and an Attempted Conversation

**A/N: Alright, well first off I really like all of you a lot. Second, writers block is real… I have felt it… **

**I think that basically covers it. Onward!**

* * *

He was on top of the world.

He was the most successful man alive.

He could do this…

All he had to do was make her laugh. That was his one task, and he couldn't mess this one up… But how was he supposed to make Lily Evans laugh? Did she laugh? Could she? He'd proposed this question earlier, but Moony just shrugged it off, telling him that she laughed, just not around him. Apparently he just isn't funny enough. A lot of people find him funny! _Most_ of the girls he's ever talked to have done nothing but giggle in his presence. That says something obviously.

Remus said he couldn't.

Peter bet five whole galleons he couldn't.

Sirius bet he could. (He always cheers for the underdog. His words, not James')

When he slid into his usual seat at lunch next to his friends, Sirius glared at him. James just looked confused. "Is something wrong?" James asked, with as much sass as he could muster.

"Padfoot is mad at you because you broke the rule."

"What rule?"

"The Tuesday rule." Peter chimed in.

"What Tuesday rule?"

"You can't be happy on Tuesdays!" Sirius snapped. "It's just not natural. Tuesday mornings are for grumpiness. It's my time to be bitter about life. You've been a grave disappointment today, Prongs."

In response to this revelation, James just rolled his eyes. "I had a plan! And you know how I am when I have a plan. Besides, I don't remember any Tuesday morning rule."

"He said it was written into the universe or something…. And something about it being sacred?"

"It is sacred!" Sirius exclaimed, his voice becoming more and more excited. Not happy… excited. "It doesn't have to be said out loud. It's common knowledge. You cannot be happy on Tuesday mornings, because no one should ever be happy on a Tuesday."

"So are you still mad at me?" James asked incredulously, still not believing in any sort of Tuesday rule.

"If you're still happy, then yes I am."

"I have to talk to Lily anyways."

"Of course you do." Sirius said, annoyed, which seemed to be a permanent state for him recently.

Taking this as a que to leave, James started over towards where the love of his life was sitting. He needed to start by talking to her. He approached her as one would approach a lion ready to pounce. With careful curiosity.

Unless that's not actually how you approach a lion, considering you shouldn't actually approach a lion if it's ready to pounce. You should probably be running in the other direction… So maybe he approached her like a James approaches a Lily?

"Uh… hey Lily!" She ignored him.

"Hi! Yeah. Lily. You. You uh… got my notes in class, right?"

She turned, and said "We're too old for this, James. Shouldn't you be a bit more mature than passing notes in class?"

Yes, he could have been discouraged by this and go in the opposite direction, but James was a never-giver-upper! Besides, he _did_ see her keep the last note. "I was just thinking about how special you were… and thoughts like that shouldn't be kept to yourself, right?" He flashed her a smile. She didn't quite return it.

"Oh." She said, a look of understanding washing over her. "You're coming here to ask me out again aren't you?"

"Psh! No!" He answered. Because that _wasn't_ what he came over to do! He came to make her laugh. Was that an ulterior motive? Probably. Did his voice convey that in his hasty rejection of the theory she'd proposed? Probably.

"But you haven't asked me out yet today." She stated as though it he hadn't asked her yet, he was bound to sometime that day. This could have been looked at as egotistical, if it hadn't been for the fact that her assumption was based on complete and utter truth.

"I'm not going to. I just came… to talk to you."

"To… talk to me?" She didn't quite look like she believed what she was hearing. James Potter never just wanted to talk when it came to Lily Evans.

"Yeah! I mean, we had such a good conversation about hobbies and things earlier… I just thought…" His voice trailed off a bit in the end. "Do you want to hear a joke?" He asked, back to his old self again.

She rolled her eyes, as was usual. She didn't say no though… "So, uh, why did the ghost cross the road?"

She stared.

He stared.

She stared.

He nodded his head toward her, as if motioning her to try and guess an answer.

She stared.

He sighed, and finally said, "To get to the other side!" He could barely contain his grin. She had to laugh at this, come on, the joke was hilarious!

She stared.

"Get it? Other side? Like, the other side of death being life, but—"

"Yeah, I got it…"

He was still smiling. "Then why aren't you laughing?" He was still smiling.

"Uh… because it wasn't funny?"

"You could at least pretend!"

"Why?"

"Because… just… that's what you… it was a joke!" She stared. He sighed in resignation, and started to walk back towards his friends. He noticed an even grumpier Sirius passing galleons to an overjoyed Peter. At least, as overjoyed as one was supposed to get on a Tuesday.

"Potter!" She called from behind him. He stopped, a small smile slowly creeping across his lips.

"Yeah?" He didn't turn around. He couldn't turn around. What if she wasn't smiling?

There was silence, and for a moment James thought he had imagined her saying his name at all. "Thanks."

He still didn't turn around. "Thanks? For… for what?"

"For… you know… the notes."

He grinned. No, he _beamed_. Play it cool, James. Just play it cool…

"Like I said… when someone's special," He started, his voice steady and slow, "They should know it… I wasn't sure if you knew it."

Then he walked away. Not towards his friends though, but towards his room. He still had forty-five minutes 'till class, why not start reading?

OoOoOoO

Apparently, it's a lot harder than it sounds to just "start reading." First he had to do research on which books he actually wanted to read. He picked out a few of what Lily mentioned as "classics." Pride and Prejudice, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, and Alice's Adventures of Wonderland, (which through a little help of his friend Google, James discovered that though well-known muggle-literature, was actually written by a wizard.)

Then, once he chose which books to start with, he had to find out how to get them to Hogwarts. In theory, he could have just ordered them online, but he wasn't quite sure how the delivery would work, then he had to use catalogs he had lying until he finally found an old wizarding shop that sold muggle books, _then_ he had to get them shipped by owl to Hogwarts.

After that he still had to wait two days.

When they finally arrived, he had to explain their arrival to Sirius.

"Prongs," He'd said, shaking his head. (It was Wednesday now, and thus James could be as happy as he wanted without facing the wrath of his best friend,) "Please tell me you actually have a good reason for buying books."

"I plan to read them." James said, determination filling his voice as he eyed the stack of work he had in front of him.

"I was afraid of that." Sirius replied, but James had made up his mind… he was _going_ to have a good, long, intelligent conversation with Lily no matter how much work it took him! Because, you know, the internet said to make her laugh, but maybe the internet didn't know Lily like James knew Lily! Maybe he had to get to know her before actually figuring out what made her laugh, and believe it or not, the way to get to know her was to actually try to be a little bit interested in what she was interested in. Even if it killed him.

"It's going to kill you." Sirius added.

James didn't doubt it…

As he eyed the stack, he realized that it had been two days since his last conversation with Lily, which was absolutely devastating to his poor little Evans-deprived heart, but he told himself he wasn't going to talk to her until he had read a book, and he was sticking with it! But he didn't know books would take _that_ long to arrive! Of course, he _had_ found little ways to give himself head starts in this relationship in the future. He took his time thinking of more compliments.

_You're the fanny pack of life… you're cool, but in your own way. _He hoped she knew what a fanny pack was…

_You make my dreams come true… Aside from all the weird ones… but it's best not to talk about those. Hey, what's that? Not my weird dreams… lets move on. _Perhaps he wouldn't send her that one?

_If they gave out medals for sarcasm, you'd totally receive the medal for gold. _Was that a compliment? He thought it was…

_Even if you were cloned, you'd still be one of a kind… and the better looking one. _

Maybe if he had just a little help from his friend google?

No. Not today. He was going to read a book, and he was going to read them then.

"I guess I better get started then!" He said, a lot less hopeful than his voice made him sound.

OoOoO

Curiously enough, he didn't show up for his next class that day…

Curioulsy enough, Lily actually noticed.

Hm… curiouser and curiouser…

* * *

**A/N: Alrighty, there it is, take from it what you must.**

**If you hated it, and/or felt iffy about it, let me know why! I don't actually dislike criticism, I actually take it quite well. **

**If you weren't planning on reviewing, review to let me know why not!**

**If you love me, let me know as positive reinforcement. **

**If you have any perfect James and Lily fic recs for me, let me know in a review because OTP. **

**Thanks, and good night. **

**-Awesomegirl13 **


	7. An Attempt at Shakespeare

**A/N: Hmm.**

* * *

"Two houses, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene.

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood… where civil blood… where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal… fatal… loins! From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their—"

"James? What are you doing?"

James sighed. Honestly, what did it _look_ like he was doing? He was quoting Shakespeare in front of a mirror. "I'm memorizing something."

Sirius stared at him. "There's nothing due today, and I've never seen you _not_ procrastinate on something since I've known you."

"It's not for school."

"Not for school?"

"Not for school."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at his friend. There was something very, _very_ wrong with this picture. James… doing work… for no reason… And it wasn't anything too important, because Sirius had never heard of it. First there was the whole business about the muggle computer, which James is still strangely obsessed with, then with the blossoming music career that should have never happened, then being happy on a Tuesday of all days, then the books, and now this?

The books.

James was memorizing books.

That meant… James had actually _read_ those books?!

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to be smart if it is the last thing I ever accomplish! Scientific studies and statistics I found on the internet showed that memorization work expands the mind by—"

Scientific studies? Expanding the mind? This was worse than he thought.

"James!" He cut in, interrupting James before he had a chance to go on a tangent about muggle science, which was basically their attempt at magic anyways. "You're already one of the smartest guys at this school. You don't need any of this 'brain-expanding' rubbish you keep going on about."

"But I'm not as smart as Lily, and that's what matters. And definitely not about the muggle-world! Come on, Sirius. Even you can admit it, even though there's no doubt that I'm the best in our year at transfiguration, I don't know a microwhat from a refridernator when it comes to muggle studies."

Not as smart as—? "Yeah, Evans is smart enough to stay away from you at least."

James was looking like Sirius had murdered a puppy in cold blood or something… He sighed. If James was passionate about this book-thing, the least Sirius could do is at least pretend to be supportive. "Fine." He said, with a sigh of resignation, "What are you memorizing?

"Romeo and Juliet."

"Which is?"

"A play about two people in love who kill themselves."

Sirius scoffed. "Sounds touching. I'm sure that'll win her over."

James frowned… he sometimes wasn't the best at picking up sarcasm. "Look, this is important! I need to talk to her, and engage in her interests! It's steps 1 and 3!"

"Steps one and three?... Just… never mind. If you want to waste time memorizing muggle books, I'm not going to stop you, but you better not start flaking out on the fun stuff!"

"Technically it's a play…"

OoOoO

He had gotten no homework done. None. Nada. His parchments were empty, his quills untouched, and his textbooks unopened. The worst part? He didn't much care. James had always been naturally smart, a fact which in the past he made sure everyone at Hogwarts was aware of, (though perhaps we'll touch on that 'in the past' part later). He'd never had to put much work into things to get good marks, but at least he put _some_ work into it. Now?

Well, now he pulled out his computer. "Again?" Remus asked, watching James gleefully press the power button. "Don't forget we have the defense test tomorrow…"

"Oh, it's just about bogarts. I won't have any trouble with that."

As soon as the computer started up again, James clicked on the little Internet Explorer icon. (Yes. You heard me. Internet explorer…) He typed in "gmail," and when the page loaded carefully typed in his email address, (hotquidditchplayer), and his password.

No emails. Again. He sighed, because despite knowing that less then 5% of the people he interacted with even knew what the internet was, he was always secretly hoping for something from someone.

He opened a new tab and sat for a minute, just thinking about what to search for with this entire wealth of information at his fingertips…

Although he was still in the beginning stages in his plan to get Lily to eventually marry him, he thought that it wouldn't hurt to at least start _thinking_ about successful ways to ask her to be his girlfriend. He typed in _how to ask a girl out_ and clicked the first thing that showed up. He scrolled through a little, certain key words catching his eye.

_Casually slip it into conversation. _

_Be prepared for rejection._

Hm. He clicked a link at the bottom, promising sample ideas to ask a girl out.

_Flatter them…_ James always liked that technique, because they say flattery gets you no where, but honestly? Flattery gets you everywhere. You just have to make sure you're subtle about it.

_Pay attention. Be a good listener._

_Ask her out when you're both alone. _That's actually a new one.

_Exhibit characteristics she wants. _Hm.

In the end, he still felt a little like he did before. Sometimes it felt like all these websites just rephrased the same thing.

He needed something fresh! He needed something new!

There was an entire world on here… But he didn't really what to just read about all these things. He wanted to _do_ them… he just had to approach it right! All this stuff about not rushing it was easy to say when they weren't the one waiting. It had been several days since he'd last asked her out. Trying to play it cool has been the most stressful experiment ever.

OoOoOoO

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked Lily, catching her on her way out of the Great Hall.

"Well…" She said, looking back towards her friends for help. They were still talking in their little group. "I actually have to get to class."

"Charms, right?"

"Yeah, so I'll just be going."

"I have that class too! I'll walk with you."

She looked back towards her friends again, mentally begging them for support. Apparently, they didn't get her mental message. She sighed, and began walking alongside him anyways. He smiled a bit. She hadn't attacked him yet, so that's a good sign. Then again, he hadn't asked her out yet. He could tell that she didn't really want him there, but she was trying not to be outright rude and say so. That never stopped her in the past, though.

Sometimes James just didn't understand why she hated him. It isn't like he didn't try… In fact, he tried _so_ hard. He was slowly working on what she called "immaturity," and he'd been working on what she called "arrogance." He couldn't just stop playing Quidditch…

"You had something you wanted to talk to me about?" Lily said impatiently, walking faster than normal… probably because she wanted to escape conversation.

"Oh! Yeah! It's about this book I just read. Romeo and Juliet? It's by Shakespeare, I know you mentioned it."

"You've got to be kidding." She said, stopping in the middle of the corridor.

He stopped next to her. "What?"

"If you're going to read Shakespeare, don't start with Romeo and Juliet of all plays." She sounded almost disgusted. Great. How was he supposed to know? He just picked the one that seemed the post popular!

"What's wrong with Romeo and Juliet? I thought it was pretty good actually." He said, in defense of the play he'd spent hours dissecting specifically for this discussion.

"Well first, Romeo is a complete and total drama queen. First spending all of his time with Rosaline this, and Rosaline that, saying that no one could ever be as pretty as she is, the BAM Juliet comes along and suddenly she's Romeo's true love. Then they get married after one day, which even the most hopeless romantic can admit is way too soon. Plus, when he kills her cousin she says she'd rather Tybalt had died ten thousand times than Romeo be banished, which is ridiculous, because they're _family _for Merlin's sake, and she's known him for two days! Then before you can laugh and say, 'don't kill yourself over it,' they both do. Kill themselves, that is. It's completely ridiculous." James ran his fingers through his hair… She was more passionate about Shakespeare then he thought she'd be. He started talking, and they began to walk again.

"Well I don't think the characters are really supposed to be completely likeable and sympathetic. Maybe it's more of a character study, or a satire on the fickleness of love." Sometimes, he surprised even himself. He sent up a silent prayer. Thank you, Internet! "And you have to at least appreciate the symbolism, like Romeo's relationship with fire, or the darkness of night."

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I still absolutely _adore_ Shakespeare, the work is still brilliant genius. Romeo and Juliet is definitely my least favorite Shakespearean play, but he's still undoubtably the greatest playwrite, muggle or wizard, to ever live. Of course, symbolism or no symbolism you have to realize that the actions of the two families—Holy crap." She stopped suddenly, shocked.

"What?! What's wrong?" James asked, subtly breaking the touch barrier as he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he removed it. "Are you okay?"

"You actually read Shakespeare." She started laughing a bit, as if not even believing the words she was saying. James frowned a bit… he guessed she must have realized who she was talking to.

"Yeah? What about it?"

She was still staring. "I don't…" They started walking again. "I don't really know."

They walked a bit in silence, rapidly approaching their destination, then entering the classroom. As she started towards her seat, she turned to him and said, "Hamlet."

"What?" He asked, startled a bit.

"Shakespeare. Try Hamlet." Then she sat down.

He saw Sirius, Remus, and Peter gesturing wildly for him in the back, and headed towards them.

"She was talking to you!"

"And you're still alive."

"And human."

"And have all your limbs attached."

"What did you slip in her drink, Prongs?"

"Oh, shove off." He said, still smiling.

He began writing on his spare parchment another compliment:

_If I had to write a story about your life, it would be a picture book, because your beauty is beyond words… And that's coming from someone with a fairly large vocabulary._

He folded it up into an airplane, and sent it flying towards her head once Flitwick turned around. She picked it up and read it, then turned around and rolled her eyes at him, before dropping it onto the floor.

And he finally thought he was going somewhere.

Nevertheless, it didn't escape his notice when she carefully reached down, straightened the note on her desk, before folding it and putting it into her pocket when she thought he wasn't looking.

He was happy for the rest of the day.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it! Thanks so much to all of you readers for actually existing! **

**Thanks even more to those of you who have reviewed. I love you all very, very much. **

**Keep up my confidence levels. Also, any feedback you have for me is always really appreciated. I crave advice sometimes.**

**Much love, and until the next view!**

**-Awesomegirl13 **


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